Automatic coupling for railway-carriages.



No. 786,868. PATENTED APR. 11, 1905. J. WILLISON;

AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR RAILWAY GARRIAGES.

APPLIGAl'ION FILED DEC. 29. 1903.

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PATENTED ALR. 11, 1905.

I WILLISON. AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR RAILWAY GARRIAGES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 29, 1908.

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INVEIIOR No. 786,868. 7 r

UNITED STATES Patented April 11,1905.

PATENT ()FFICE.

J OHN WILLISON, OF DERBY, ENGLAND, ASSIGN OR TO THE NATIONAL MALLEABLEOASTINGS OOMPAN Y,

PORATION OF OHIO;

OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A COR- AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR RAILWAY-CAHRIAGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 786,868, dated April11, 1805.

Application filed December 29, 1903. Serial No. 136,937.

To all, whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN WILLISON, of 158'Clarence road, Derby, in thecounty of Derby, England, have invented a new and useful AutomaticCoupler for Railway-Carriages, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a plan of anautomatic coupler constructed according to this invention; Fig. 2., asectional plan; Fig. 3, a sectional plan showing the coupler-knuckleopen, the lever being shown in its returned position and in dottedlirfes in the position in which it opens the coupler; Fig. 4, a verticallongitudinal section, partly inelevation, of Fig. 1, but showing thecoupler-knuckle open and the lock in its raised or unlocking position;Fig. 5, a similar view, but with the knuckle closed and locked; and Fig.6, an elevation of the rear of the coupler, showing the lock held in theraised position by engagement of the lock and lever.

This invention relates to automatic coup lers for railway-carriages inwhich, by means of a lever operated through a suitable link or links,the knuckle of the coupler is unlocked, so that the carriages may beuncoupled and the lock is held in that position until the knuckle isagain returned to the position for coupling. The lever may also be usedto turn the coupler to the open or coupling position, and provision isalso made for-the release and return of the look from the unlocking tothe locking position without moving the coupler or carriages. I

Referring to the figures, the forward end of a lever a has a pin apivotally engaging in A coupler-head, and a projecting piece 6 on theupper side of the lever has its surface oppositely inclined to engagewith a correspondingly-inclined surface e, attached to or formedintegrally with the locking-piece The cooperation of these two pairs ofinclined surfaces when the. lever is turned about its pivot (1 resultsin a considerablecan be opened. In this position the edge 9 of the piece6 on the lever or another suitable attachment thereto engages in a notche in the inclined'surface 6, so preventing the lever, and consequentlythe locking-piece,

from returning gravitationally to their lower positions. If, however,the lever a is now given a backward thrust, there is suflicient verticalfreedom of motion of the lock to enable theparts e g to disengage ifsuitably shaped, as shown in Fig. 6, thereby allowing both look andlever to return to their lower position. By this arrangement should thecoupler become inadvertently unlocked it can be relocked withoutseparating the carriages.

A forward movement of the lever from the position in which the piece 9engages with the lock-set 0 results in rotary movement of thecoupler-knuckle about its pivot and a resulting backward displacement ofthe lever, the fulcrum of which is in this case transferred to the pointof contact between the lever and the surface h inside the coupler-head.The lever therefore slides down the inclined surface on thecoupler-head; but the outward movement of the knuckle 6 brings the tailof the latter or an attachment thereto under the locking-piece f andholds it in its upper or unlocking position until the coupler-knucklehas been returned to its coupling position, whereupon the locking-piece,being no longer supported either by the knuckle or the lever, returnsgravitationally to its lower position and locks the coupler.

It Will be understood that any outward swing of the coupler-knuckle,whether produced by the action of the lever or by the acof separatingthe carriages, holds the lock in its unlocking position by engagementwith the tail of the knuckle.

Since in the unlocking position the lock projects considerably above thecoupler-head and is flush therewith in the locking position, the lockitself serves as an indicator by which the state of the coupler can beseen at a glance.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is 1. A car-coupler having a knuckle, a lock, and a leverindependent of said lock and adapted to move along an inclined surfaceon the coupler to raise the lock; substantially as described.

2. A car-coupler having a knuckle, a lock, and a lever independent ofsaid lock and adapted to move along an inclined surface on the couplerto raise the lock, said lock being adapted to engage the lever and to beheld thereby in. unlocked position; substantially as described.

3. A car-coupler having a knuckle and lock, and a lever adapted to movealong an in clined surface on the coupler and to raise the lock, saidlock having a notch adapted to engage the lever when the lock is inunlocked position; substantially as described.

4. A car-coupler having a knuckle, a lock, and a lever adapted to movealong an inclined surface on the coupler to raise the lock, said leverbeing adapted to engage a fulcrum on the coupler-head to move theknuckle open; substantially as described.

5. A car-coupler having a knuckle and lock, and a lever adapted to movealong an inclined surface on the coupler and to raise the lock, saidlock having a notch adapted to engage the lever when the lock is inunlocked position, and the lever being adapted to be freed from thenotch by a rearward motion. of the lever; substantially as described.

6. A car-coupler having a knuckle and lock, and a lever adapted to movealong an inclined surface on the coupler and to engage an inclinedsurface on the lock; substantially as described.

7. A car-coupler having a knuckle, a lock and a lever adapted to movebetween inclined surfaces on'the coupler and lock respectively, to raisethe lock; substantially as described.

8. A car-coupler having a knuckle, a lock and a lever pivoted in saidknuckle, said lever being adapted to move between inclined surfaces onthe coupler and lock respectiwly, to raise the lock and thereafter throwopen the knuckle; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN WI IQIQISON Witnesses OLIVER IMRAY, C. S. I'IOPKINS.

